This invention relates to an electrical connector requiring low insertion force and, in particular, to an electrical connector terminal that is adapted to mate with a mating connector terminal with low force.
Such an electrical connector requiring low insertion force can be found in the publication, Japanese Utility Model Laid Open No. 12563/1980. The connector comprises connector housings engaged with each other to position an inner pair of contact pieces against an outer pair of contact pieces. For this to occur a rotation lever is rotated allowing a cam body to make 1/4 revolutions. The cam body thus makes contact with the inner pair of contact pieces, deforming them outward, forcing a connection with the outer contact pieces. Through this connection an electrical path is created.
In the electrical connector described above, the inner pair of contact pieces do not slide on the outer pair of contact pieces when creating an electrical connection. Accordingly, there is no sliding resistance or friction between the contact pieces and thus little insertion force is required (low insertion force) to mate the terminals. However, this mating operation is useless against oxide films which can form on the back surface of the contact pieces. The reason being, it is impossible to strip such oxide films during engagement of the contact pieces because the contact pieces are not rubbed against each other. The presence of oxide films or adhesions such as dust on the surface of the contact pieces would thus tend to make electrical connections unreliable.
To alleviate this problem, some connectors comprise contact pieces which slide against each other when making an electrical connection. This type of connector has, however, a disadvantage of requiring high insertion force.